NPCs
"I like NPCs with secrets!" - Chris Perkins Non-player / Guest characters This is a list of the NPCs that played a significant role in the story. *Warning* there are spoilers in the descriptions. Barovian NPCs Ireena Kolyana is the adopted daughter of the burgomaster of Barovia (in the official module, when she was younger she fled a wolf attack on her brother Izek Strazni and was lost to her birth family. In DCA, an adapted version of this backstory is given to Strix instead). She is also the reincarnation of Count Strahd's old love interest, Tatyana. The vampire lord has already begun trying to convert and seduce her, however she is resisting. In DCA, she is an experienced fighter and helps the party. She is accidentally killed when Strahd attempts to escape with her on his flying steed, and Strix freezes her in place so that she falls to her death. Madam Eva is an old Vistani fortune teller who gave the Waffle Crew clues about where to find the artifacts and guide that will help them defeat Strahd. A randomly chosen CoS Taroka card was actually mailed to each of the cast and revealed on the air, to simulate the way the adventure is meant to be randomly designed. In the official module, Madam Eva is revealed to be Strahd's half sister, and other Ravenloft sources credit her with being the one who established the Vistani's alliance with Strahd.1 Official sources attribute her great age to being part of a Vistani clan that exists outside of time.1 When the Waffle Crew travel back in time to just before Strahd's conversion, a figure resembling Madam Eva named 'Madam Katarina' is seen advising Strahd. It is hinted that she might be the same person, with Evelyn mentioning the name Eva to her, and the seer remarking that she would keep that name in mind. Izek later tells the Crew that Eva read a fortune for Lady Wachter that told them where to find the Crew in the Shadowfell, and that Mr. Shambleface might be useful to Strix. Falkon Targolov 'is played by Chris Tott of Hat Films and ''D&D High Rollers. He is part of the original CoS adventure as a wereraven scout who keeps an eye on the old BoneGrinder. In DCA, he is also given the background of having had a close relationship with Escher, before the latter was turned into a vampire spawn some time before the events of the series. First appearing in episode 4, Falkon guided the Waffle Crew in his raven form, only revealing his lycanthropy after they reached the mill. His constant form shifting required him to shed his clothes, resulting in humorous situations. Afterwards, he separated from the party, only to return to rescue Paultin from Strahd's castle with the plan to turn him into a wereraven, but Paultin persuaded him instead to carry him out of Ravenloft in his hybrid form. Falkon died after being shot out of the air by Ezmeralda's silver crossbow bolts, with Paultin landing on top of him. When the Crew stumble upon his corpse later, Diath's ghoulish curse causes him to start gnawing on it unintentionally. Escher later places the corpse in a coffin and is shown caressing it. '''Deeadra (Dee to her friends), played by Erika Ishii of Geek & Sundry, is a character who is not mentioned in the CoS module, but serves as an ally to the Waffle Crew and a means for them to be introduced to van Richten, who is hiding under the name Rictavio. Dee is also under cover as the 'strong woman' member of Rictavio's circus. She builds a close friendship with Evelyn. Erika was present in costume as Dee during TwitchCon 2016's live broadcast of episode 24.2 She was last entrusted to watch over Paultin and keep him from following the rest of the Crew and van Richten--who asked that Paultin stay behind. However Paultin reappeared, and Dee's fate was left unknown, although it was hinted during the sock puppet special that she is still alive. Rudolph van Richten is medical doctor who turned to the path of clerical devotion and monster hunting after his son was changed to a vampire and van Richten was forced to kill him. Chris Perkins imitates Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter character to voice him. In other Ravenloft lore3 but not mentioned in the module, van Richten drew the attention of a lich and nearby zombie horde and led them to the Vistani who had sold his son to the vampire, causing their slaughter and himself to be cursed. In the official lore, the curse leads to the death of any of his allies, but in DCA he additionally reveals that the curse gives him "dreams that come true".2 In DCA, the camp of slaughtered Vistani turned out to include Paultin's family, though it is not explained how Paultin survived. Paultin threatens van Richten on multiple occasions, but has not been able to bring himself to kill him. When the Waffle Crew first meets him, he is concealing himself from Strahd's spies as Rictavio, the circus ringleader in Vallaki. He later reveals his knowledge of ancient Vistani rituals by helping the crew prepare Mr. Shambleface to trap Strahd, and later to transfer St. Markovia's blessing from Evelyn to Diath and Strix. He was blinded by the second ritual, and was last seen being escorted to the dwarven temples for healing. Ezmeralda d'Avenir, 'played by Mark Hulmes from ''D&D High Rollers, is a Vistani adventurer who allied herself with van Richten and became his student in monster hunting for a time. As the module does not include his role in the Vistani slaughter, the explanation is given that Ezmeralda allied herself to him due to remorse for her family's role in the death of his son.3 In DCA, it is not explained why she left van Richten, only that her wagon of supplies is still at his tower, and she is actively searching for him. She is the ally that was foretold by Paultin's Taroka card to be necessary for defeating Strahd. However, she was captured by Strahd and turned into a vampire. Although she killed Falkon, she was able to resist Strahd's thrall enough to help Paultin escape and later help the Crew confront the vampire lord. Paultin killed her with the Sunsword at her request. '''Arabelle, played by Liisa Lee of the How We Roll Podcast, is a young seer and the niece of Arrigal, the leader of an evil band of Vistani. Her powerful bloodline makes her a prime target for the ritual to activate Mr. Shambleface and trap Strahd. Although Arabelle was friendly to them, and her father had richly rewarded the Crew for rescuing her from her drunken kidnapper, when Diath realizes they have no other option he kills Arabelle for her blood. Simon briefly befriended Arabelle before her death, and starts shadowing the Crew after he finds her dead. Izek Strazni is the older tiefling half-brother4 of Strix, who like her, was summoned away from the Skizziks family in Sigil when they were very young and brought to Barovia5,6 by the Wachter family. The Vistani kidnapped both him and Strix to bring them back to Sigil, but Izek escaped and found his way to the burgomaster of Vallaki, who took him in. Izek became a firm supporter of the burgomaster, acting as his enforcer and an enemy of the Wachters. Izek has an enlarged demonic right arm that can shoot fire, and has a reputation as an evil brute. In the official DCA module,7 he is actually the brother of Ireena who was attacked by wolves that bit off his arm. In that version, he is also taken in by the burgomaster of Vallaki and becomes his lackey, but one day he wakes up from a drunken stupor to find his missing arm replaced by a fiendish one. He vaguely remembers Ireena and becomes obsessed with recovering her, ordering dolls to be made in her likeness. Similarly, in DCA when Strix reveals to Izek that she is his sister, he declares that they will never again be separated, and also starts a doll collection. He kills Diath by hanging him, and when the Crew returns to Barovia, he calls Diath a 'Lorcatha' and specifically targets him. When the Crew run into him again in the Shadowfell, he is missing his demonic arm, and claims that it had been ripped off when he grasped the Crew's carriage in Barovia. He explains that with the arm gone, he was released from its evil influence and now wants to redeem himself. He broke into the dwarven vaults and retrieved Mr. Shambleface because Eva foretold it would help Strix. Strix later interrogates him about what he knows regarding the Skizziks and Lorcatha families, and when he insists that Strix and Diath cannot be together, she turns him into a spider and leaves him behind. Lady Fiona Wachter is the head of the noble Wachter family since the passing of her husband (who she keeps in a preserved state in their bedroom). Their family have old ties to Strahd, who trusted them with the bones of the traitor Leo Dilisnya who tried to assassinate him (when the Waffle Crew go back in time, they have the chance to meet Leo and his mother). Fiona at first claimed to be Strix's aunt (Madam Eva also told Strix that she had a brother, aunt and cousins in Vallaki), and said that she knew her mother, who was a "lovely woman", although she also described Strix's fiendish features as "beautiful".8 Fiona told Strix that she had planned to raise her as her own daughter, and that she envied her infernal blood. She later revealed that she was a cultist and practiced devil worship, and told Strix that "a deal was wrought to make you".8 Strix escaped from her and later led Izek into her basement, where he went on a rampage. Fiona later received a reading from Madam Eva that caused her to reconcile with Izek and have him recover Mr. Shambleface from Gauntlgrym to help Strix. Izek revealed that Fiona was interested in the lore behind the Skizziks and Lorcatha feud, and that she possessed books about them. Rahadin is a dusk elf that serves as Strahd's chamberlain. In Ravenloft lore,9 Strahd tried to seduce and convert the sister of the dusk elf Kasimir, but rather than allow it, their clan killed her. In revenge, Strahd sent Rahadin to slaughter all the female dusk elves to doom their race. When he ran into the DCA cast, he at first used the identity of Kasimir to befriend them (although the cast would refer to him as "ass smear"). Anyone standing next to him would hear the ghostly screams of his many victims. When the Crew traveled to the past, they handed the Tome of Strahd to Rahadin to try and sway him to their side. Instead, he burned the book to try to protect Strahd, a move that enraged his master and caused him to be banished.10 Archmage Exethanter, otherwise known as "barmy the lich", is an amnesiac undead wizard who encourages visitors to the Amber Temple to share in its dark lore.11 The Crew found him wandering the halls, but luckily he was friendly towards them and helped them past the Temple's guardians. Strix was later able to copy the spell 'remove curse' from Exenther's magic spellbook and cure Evelyn of lycanthropy. He also revealed to Diath that the Dark Powers trapped in the amber sarcophagi might grant a gift to return Strix to life. Escher is a vampire spawn of Strahd's who serves as one of his consorts, although he has been feeling neglected lately. In DCA, he is revealed to have had a close relationship with Falkon prior to his conversion. When Paultin is summoned to Ravenloft, Escher takes a sudden romantic interest in him. Paultin convinces Escher to let him escape. When he is summoned to Ravenloft a second time, Escher becomes his guide, explaining the intent of the Dark Powers and secretly hinting to Paultin that after he weds the golem bride and the ritual is out of the way, he and Escher will be free to be together. However, he is also seen caressing Falkon's decomposing corpse, which he has encased in a coffin, and says that revenge will soon be theirs. Thankfully, the ceremony is interrupted and the Crew rewrite the past, therefore the fate of Escher is currently unknown. Mordenkainen, played by actor Sam Witwer, is a famous high level wizard from another world who found himself trapped in Barovia.12 He is mentioned several times by NPCs in DCA as a foreign wizard who led the townsfolk in a failed revolt against Strahd, which resulted in him falling over a cliff. There are also rumors of a mad wizard roaming the area (the rumors don't necessarily say this is the same man). Mordenkainen's madness is depicted by Sam as references to old D&D jokes such as the need for 10 foot poles and players tying themselves together with rope for safety. The Crew have trouble saying his name and refer to him as "Murdy Kurdy". After helping them defeat Strahd, he disappears into the forest in the form of an elk. When the Waffle Crew are pulled back into Barovia, Mordenkainen leads the townsfolk and wereravens on a raid that interrupts the wedding between Paultin and the flesh golem. His fate is currently unknown. Emil Toranescu, played by Aram Vartian of Godsfall, is a werewolf imprisoned in Ravenloft's dungeons at the same time as Paultin. They form a brief alliance to escape, and although Emil takes no damage from normal weapons as they battle their enemies, Paultin doesn't realize at the time that Emil is a werewolf. Emil takes a different exit, and the Crew don't see him again until Emil and his mate Zuleika intercept them fleeing Barovia to warn them that their pack is coming after them to recover Mr. Shambleface. Emil turns Evelyn (again), Paultin and Diath temporarily into werewolves to neutralize the pack's advantages as they battle. Afterwards, Emil and Zuleika leave to presumably take over their pack, saying they will tell the others that the Crew are now dead to keep them off their trail. [http://dice-camera-action.wikia.com/wiki/Count_Strahd_von_Zarovich Strahd von Zarovich] is the ruler of Barovia and the one who drew the Waffle Crew through the mists and into his lands. After several encounters with members of the Crew, they finally succeed in trapping his soul in an effigy (in the original timeline), which was given to Drizzt to store in dwarven vaults for safekeeping. However, Izek was told by Fiona that Strix might need the effigy, so he traveled to Gauntlgrym to retrieve it. In addition, upon traveling to the past, the Waffle Crew interrupted the deaths of Strahd's brother Sergei and Tatyana, and his bloodlust was held at bay for a time.10 His new fate in the altered timeline is unknown. Sir Godfrey Gwilym '''is a cleric/knight who was a member of the Order of the Silver Dragon, who were wiped out by Strahd's forces.13 Per Ravenloft lore, he returned as a revenant to the knights' headquarters of Argynvostholt, who along with other members of his band, are bound by unrest as long as the skull of their former patron, the silver dragon Argynvost, remains in Strahd's castle. Although the Waffle Crew never met him on their trip to Argynvostholt, in the alternate timeline when most of the Crew are killed, Sir Godfrey befriends Strix during her 50 years alone. He accompanies Strix and her other friends as they travel to the cemetery and use the gifts of the Dark Powers to revive Paultin, Diath, Evelyn and Juniper. He continues to accompany them out of Barovia and onto Xandala's airship. The Crew teleport away from an approaching dragon without him, but Strix polymorphs him into an albatross so that he can escape. He hinted that if he dies again, he will simply reanimate in another body. His current fate is unknown. Storm King's Thunder NPCs '''Zog Splintershard is a dwarf mountaineer whose lower legs were replaced by stilts. He finds the Crew after they escape Barovia and tries to guide them to the dwarf city of Citadel Adbar. He has a message for the dwarf king, but dies before passing it on (the dwarves at Adbar later surmise that it has to do with the Ring of Winter). Diath uses his one-time resurrection ability granted by the Dark Powers to bring him back to life, but then he dies again shortly after. Drizzt Do'Urden is a chaotic good-aligned drow fighter/ranger from the Forgotten Realms adventures who made an appearance in DCA, helping to rescue the Crew from Emil's pack. Chris Perkins voices him with a Bostonian accent.14 He revealed that he was searching for Jasper Dimmerchasm's lost party, who had been entrusted with spying on the Fire Giants' activities. He agreed to take Mr. Shambleface to Gauntlgrym to keep it safe. Lafaria is a dryad voiced by Satine Phoenix of Maze Arcana: Sirens of the Realms. She was described as a tall humanoid figure with twigs coming out of her head and body, who emerged from her tree when the Crew tried to nail a message into it. Her tree looks like a giant sycamore, and is perched above a cave. She and the Crew fight a band of hill giants but Lafaria doesn't survive. Before she dies, she grants a boon to Strix that allows her to polymorph a limited number of times. Krak Dragonspore is the name of a bodyguard loaned to the crew by the head of the Bronzefire clan. He was covered head to toe with a set of black magical armor that could make him invulnerable to nonmagical damage for a time. After he was left alone fighting a band of Yakfolk, the Crew returned to find his abandoned set of armor. They later realized that he was a dao (earth genie) named Kaharik, and were able to trap him in an iron flask that forces extra-planar beings to obey the owner's will for one hour upon release. Upon their return from Ironslag, the Crew commanded Kaharik to reveal the Bronzefire clan's traitorous plans to the dwarf king. Strix later commanded Kaharik to chase after a dwarf who had ambushed the team to steal the flask, but she never specified that he return, and his whereabouts are now unknown. Harshnag the Grim, played by Joe Hills, is a heroic frost giant who was banished from his clan for being too soft.15 He has a giant hawk named Dodbyrd16 who he can somehow communicate with. In DCA, Krak leads the crew to Harshnag's tower, but they discover it taken over by Yakfolk. After clearing the tower, Harshnag follows the Crew to Ironslag, helping to distract the Yakfolk living in a village situated before the entrance. A Yakfolk shaman summons an earth elemental that Harshnag tries to toss over a cliff, but both end up falling over the edge. He is presumed dead, but Dodbyrd continued to help the Crew, until it was shot out of the sky by Kozin. Speliotha and Veriwell were slaves of the Yakfolk, freed by the Crew. Speliotha befriended Evelyn, but was killed by one of the Yakfolk. Evelyn recovered a magical flamesword from one of the Yakfolk, and intended to name it after her dead friend, but botched the name so that it is now called "the heart of Spinelli". Veriwell rewarded Diath with a magical luckstone in the shape of a cat that was given to her by her adventuring brother, Eliberry. While she was a prisoner, she had to hide it up her butt so that it wouldn't get taken from her. The Crew henceforth mockingly call it the "butt rock". Kozin Xorlarrin is a drow fighter played by author Sam Sykes, who was sent with a party of other drow to negotiate a deal with the fire giants in exchange for the drow's magical iron flask. The flask had a fire primordial trapped inside, which the giants needed to power their forge. Kozin, who had a tattoo of a spider over his face, had a secret agenda to sabotage the deal so that his cousin Veerith got the blame and would be rejected as a priestess of Lolth. The drow walked in on a battle between the fire giants and the Crew, and Kozin took advantage of the confusion to help the Crew, as it served his purpose. He continued to help them recover the flask, then escaped Ironslag on his own after Diath freed the primordial. Lilith Lucena is a tiefling bard played by Allie Gonino of Girls, Guts, Glory, who joined the cast in costume for the live Stream of Annihilation ''episode. Lilith is an unwilling servant of an ancient dark entity, and the evil witch Gotsaga wants to protect her from a band of misguided Morninglord worshipers who are hunting her. Gotsaga sends Lilith a message to wait for van Richten's aid, and he convinces the Crew to help him protect Lilith. The Crew do so, killing the priestess Sibyl and her followers, although they are still not perfectly clear on whether the deed is good or evil. Lilith is the first to explain to the Crew about the Soulmonger and the nature of the death curse. '''Shemeshka the Marauder' is a fox-like arcanaloth, a type of wizard fiend that collects knowledge.17 She resides in Sigil, and has had dealings with Diath's ancestor Dareth, forging the magical shortsword Gutter for the Woodrow bloodline. She also at one point tried to purchase Strix when she was a child. Due to the pact with his family, Shemeshka will appear any time one of Diath's mysterious keys is inserted into Gutter, and answer three questions that are within her scope of knowledge. She then wants the key returned. She made an additional deal with Diath to transport the Crew and their allies to Chult when their airship was being attacked by Klauth. In exchange, Diath was placed under a geas to recover a book of spells and a pair of spectacles from Mr. Fox, who resides within the Tomb of Annihilation. Strix later removed the geas to prevent Diath from being killed, speaking aloud to reassure Shemeshka (who she assumed was watching) that they would still bring her those items. When they stumbled into the Sewn Sister's lair, the Crew made a deal to have them retrieve those items for them. The hags then revealed that Shemeshka could be controlled by someone who knew her true name, and that she had a piece of Diath's soul in a box as her price for mediating the Ashtown Concordance. Xandala is an airship captain and sorcerer played by creative artist Dani Hartel, who owns a small pseudodragon named Summerwise. She is a member of the Harpers, a band of noble spies and informants who try to bring fairness and equality to the world. In DCA, she infiltrated a band of the Cult of the Dragon and is leading them to the frost giant village of Kronenheim, where they think Artus Cimber may be hiding with the Ring of Winter. Although Xandala's mission is to get Artus to give up the ring, Xandala secretly wants it for herself, thinking she would be a fair ruler of the world. She spots the Crew after they exit Barovia the second time, and offers to give them a ride. When the Cult summons Klauth the red dragon, the Crew and Artus teleport away from the airship, leaving behind Sir Godfrey and Xandala. Xandala is killed, although the fates of Sir Godfrey, Summerwise and the airship are unknown. Xandala has a twin sister named Wandala who works for the Zhentarim, a faction opposing the Harpers. Klauth is an ancient red dragon nicknamed "old Snarl", who was first revealed in Chris Perkins' multiverse when the Acquisitions Incorporated team flew over his lair in their battle balloon. Klauth let them go after they tossed all of their magical items to him, but he was "so infatuated with their airship that he actually built one of his own, and that appeared in...Dice, Camera, Action...they met the crew of the ship".17 Klauth likes to strap wands to his wings to give him extra firepower, even though his breath weapon is already fairly deadly. Like all dragons, he also has a love of magical items, and he is pursuing the Ring of Winter because it is "raw elemental power, like me. We have much to learn from each other".18 After being grievously injured, Klauth escapes without the Ring, but is pursued by Bag of Nails in the battle balloon. Artus Cimber is a heroic NPC from Forgotten Realms lore and an ally of the Harpers, who recovered the Ring of Winter from the lost city of Mezro in Chult. Artus befriended Dragonbait and met his wife during his former adventures. In DCA, he is aware of Xandala's secret motives towards the ring, and refuses to entrust it to Paultin despite the latter's intense desire to use it to summon ice creatures. Artus warns them that the ring is evil and will attempt to take control of its wearer, and he is occasionally noted to intentionally not be wearing it. Although he accompanies the Crew to Chult, when they are ambushed by the Zhentarim, he realizes that his presence is drawing unwanted attention to them, and asks Dragonbait to guide the Crew instead. The Crew later encounter Artus in the jungle under the sway of the ring. They are forced to kill him, and his last words are for his wife Alisandra to avenge him. Paultin then takes possession of the ring. Chultan / Shadowfell NPCs The Sewn Sisters are a coven of three disturbing night hags (Widow Groat, Peggy Deadbells and Baggy Nana) who placed evil soul larvae into Diath, Paultin and Strix through a 3-night ritual to complete a contract brokered by Shemeshka (using a scroll and magical ink from Baba Yaga). As a peace offering, Strix had also baked the hags pies, adding into them hair she took from herself, Diath, and Paultin. The hags used the hair to make evil clones (otherwise known as the Awful Crew) set loose on Port Nyanzaru under the supervision of their imp familiar, Umpox. On escaping the Shadowfell, the Crew found themselves in the Sewn Sisters' lair. The hags offered to do three favors for the Crew--retrieving Mr. Fox's spectacles, Shemeshka's book, and a resurrection scroll for Evelyn--in exchange for more hair to make other clones. They also tried to persuade Strix to bear a hag child for them, but Diath refused to let her, despite their additional offer to reveal Shemeshka's true name or retrieve the piece of Diath's soul she had hidden away. Lerek Dashlynd 'is a human spy in Port Nyanzaru representing a wealthy outside agency interested in Chult. He offers the Crew a ship in exchange for a map showing the exact locations of Omu, Nangalore and Orolunga. Although Diath had been carefully charting their journey through the jungle and even the Shadowfell, it wasn't until after they returned to Port Nyanzaru that he remembered that they hadn't yet been to Nangalore. As a result, Lerek was only able to book them passage on the ''Brazen Pegasus, a ship heading to Waterdeep. '''Dragonbait is a saurial (dinosaur-like being from another world) paladin and friend of Artus Cimber, who guides the Waffle Crew through Chult as a favor to him. His species communicates through high-pitched sounds that normal beings can't detect, with their emotions also expressed as particular scents.19 He has bravely put himself in danger multiple times to protect the Crew and their allies, although the players often forget that he is among them. He is usually left in charge of the Crew's pets when they investigate something dangerous. He was left behind at the ruins of an Omu cemetery with Waffles (who ran after the Crew), Eighteen, and the surviving vegepymies when the Crew left for the Shadowfell, with Diath advising him not to wait for them, and just make his way back to Port Nyanzaru. According to Chris, "Dragonbait and “18” are somewhere in the heart of Chult. I’m 72 percent sure they’re fine".20 Umbril is a half-orc female cleric of Torm who accompanies the Crew from Port Nyanzaru to the Order of the Gauntlet's settlements in the jungles of Chult. She is attended to by her goblin steward, Chumba. She and Evelyn have an amusing rivalry regarding the strength of each others' god. Umbril is left behind at Fort Vengeance where she was assigned. Chumba is a batiri goblin (greenish yellow skin, large pointed ears, halfling-sized, native to Chult) voiced by Anna's husband, Geoff Robinson. He is loaded with a ladder, pans, rope, and other supplies, and is easily scared, especially by dolls. Dragonbait becomes very protective of him, and Chumba likewise likes to stay near the saurial because he frequently smells of ham (despite it being a sign of danger). Chumba dies after he and his brother fall off a tall tower in a collapsing cave, with his brother using his body as a cushion. Wumba is Chumba's brother, voiced by Holly's husband, Ross O'Donovan. He never knew what had happened to Chumba, so when he saw him in the company of Umbril and the Crew, he assumed he was their prisoner and attacked, dabbing when he sensed victory (which became his signature move). After the situation was cleared up, Wumba and Chumba tried to help the Crew get past a rival tribe of goblins, battle zombies, and make it through a trapped dungeon. Unfortunately, as the Crew triggered the collapse of the dungeon and left the goblins behind, Wumba and Chumba fought as they fell off a tall ledge, with Wumba literally coming out on top and surviving. Paultin revealed Wumba's role in Chumba's death to the rest of the Crew, and they refused to let him stay with them. As a warlock servant of Dendar the Night Serpent, Wumba was later able to use his powers to desecrate a patch of ground and cause it to summon an image of Dendar whenever Strix fell asleep. Wumba ended up getting eaten by Waffles. Evelyn was later pulled into one of Dendar's nightmares and was confronted by three copies of Wumba, one of which she managed to convert to Lathandar, but another took advantage of the distraction to start the force bomb's countdown. Kerrek the human paladin is a character voiced by author Patrick Rothfus, who also played him on the show Critical Role.21 Although he had died in that series, Chris Perkins created a twist where he was brought back to life and somehow appeared in a supply crate sent to Fort Vengeance. He helped the camp and the Crew fight off a hoard of invading undead, as well as a Mercykiller who had come after Strix. After they jumped into a portal that took them to Sigil, Kerrek and the Crew defeated the Mercykiller and its robotic minions. Rather than return to their world, Kerrek told them he would stay in Sigil after he learned there might be people there who could raise the dead. His fate is currently unknown. Chwingas are masked nature spirits of Chult22 who befriend Paultin at the ziggurat of Orolunga (he is the only one who sees them), and help him solve the puzzles to reach the guardian naga Saja N'baza (which the Crew refer to as the snake-person 'Snerson'). The naga grants Paultin a magically enhanced perception which possibly allows him to further connect with the Chwingas. They give Paultin magic poison-resistance nuts to protect the Crew from the poison of the yuan-ti, and later help fight the dragon Klauth (albeit not very effectively). Xopa is an old tortle bard voiced by Mark Hulmes, who the Crew ran into while he was wandering the world on his final adventure. He encouraged them to share the story of how they met, and being in his presence also seemed to trigger the Crew to be more open and share their feelings with each other. The next morning as they awoke in their campsite, all they could find of him was a note and the tortle's staff. It is unknown whether he is still alive. Bag of Nails is an old Tabaxi ranger/warrior, played by voice actor Matthew Lillard. It is implied several times that he is mentally unstable, and he licks Simon and Paultin (calling them his sons) and pierces Diath with a rusty nail to make a blood bond with him. He is also on a mission to have a glorious death, and is excited by the opportunity to fight the red dragon Klauth. Even though Matthew takes every opportunity to have him killed, Bag of Nails amazingly survives the encounter, and is last seen chasing after the dragon in the Acquisitions Incorporated battle balloon. He is also present when Jim Darkmagic's clone awakens in the hull of the airship,23 and invites him to chase the dragon with him. Miranda Moonwhisper24 is a true-neutral elf druid (Circle of Dreams)25 with a kleptomanic obsession for magical items, played by Rachel Seeley from Girls, Guts, Glory. She had befriended a tribe of vegepygmies and their leader, Celery, who aided the Crew against the frost giants trying to steal the Ring of Winter. She was in search of her tiefling warlock and a halfling rogue companions, who were captured by yuan-ti while in search of Ras Nsi and a way to end the death curse. She quickly made friends with Evelyn as she began summoning flowers and they bonded over their shared love of beautiful things. Paultin tried to show off his team's pets as being more useful than the vegepygmies, drawing Miranda's ire. But she was also aware of the Ring as a powerful elvan artifact with a flaw that manifested as a malevolent personality, so she kept a watchful eye on him. She also shared with the Crew a hidden entrance to Ras Nsi's palace that the vegepygmies revealed to her. After finding one friend converted to a yuan-ti (who Evelyn was forced to kill) and the other friend sacrificed on a yuan-ti altar (whose ring of the ram she appropriated), Miranda offered to stay and help the Crew destroy the Soulmonger. When Paultin was revealed to have been taken over by the Ring, she chose to stay with the Crew out of a sense of guilt for her peoples' role in creating it. In the Shadowfell, she fell under the magical despair that nothing she did mattered. When Strix briefly managed to stop time, Miranda withstood its effect and was able to take the ring from Paultin. The Shadar-kai agreed to let her get away with it in exchange for some of her magical items, but also convinced her to leave behind the Crew and accompany them north. Eighteen is the racing triceratops bought by Omin Dran as a present for Jim Darkmagic in the PAX West 2017 Acquisitions Incorporated episode.26 After winning the race, they carried Eighteen along with them to Omu, since Jim enjoyed riding him. However, after triggering a curse, the Acquisitions Incorporated team and Eighteen all lost a few decades of age, and Eighteen shrunk to the size of a suitcase.27 He became separated from them, then found his way to the Crew. The baby dinosaur recognized Strix and was attracted to Dragonbait's scents, but triggered a jealous reaction from Waffles. Paultin used the ring to make an ice-copy of him, which Diath named "Iceteen". Lovardo Provalone and Nariciana Houdini are dusk elves who were drawn to the Shadowfell, otherwise known as shadar-kai, who serve the Raven Queen. They both collect things "to keep their sanity"--Lovardo likes shiny trinkets while Nariciana likes carving off faces and storing them in her bag. Lovardo hinted that they have secret assignments, and it is revealed that they murdered Lord Niall's family. Lovardo enjoys drinking alcohol, and formed an instant bond with Pautlin. Despite the initial threat to carve off his face, both assassins agreed to help Paultin deal with the Crew. They later accompanied Miranda north after she took possession of the ring. Lovordo is also now carrying Mr. Shambleface, which Paultin had warned him not to damage. Lord Niall ran across the Crew when they were tracking down Paultin in the Shadowfell. He was riding a sickly horse and wore a burlap sack over his head to hide the fact that his face was carved off. He sought the shadar-kai assassins to avenge the murder of his family, but was stabbed in the back by them as they escaped the inn during the time stop. Evelyn discovered his armor empty when she went to check on his corpse. Zaress is an elderly, influential and well-known cleric of Lathander, who died of natural causes and whose spirit was sent to the Soulmonger. There, she met and comforted the spirit of Dortimer, a young boy raised mostly by his tutors instead of his rich parents, who died after falling off a horse. Zaress also shared words of wisdom with Evelyn, and helped her seek guidance from Lathander while trapped inside the Soulmonger, resulting in Evelyn's self-sacrifice as the "worm inside the apple" to destroy the atropal from within. Zaress and Dortimer then accompanied Evelyn to the outer plane of Celestia. Zaress continued to advise Evelyn on the workings of the afterlife, and opened her eyes to the truth that Lathander would want her to enjoy life and make decisions for herself, and that she should return to her friends and not deny herself the gift of love. Shadowfell Death is one of the many representations of Death, who the Crew ran into while exploring a cavern alongside a cove filled with shipwrecks in the Shadowfell. This version had been trapped behind a winding passage by the balhannoth's magic, which Strix dispelled. Paultin then tricked it into believing it was still trapped by Paultin's own magic, and would only be freed if it agreed to his demands. After some amusing antics and verbal exchanges, the death clone became so exasperated that it contemplated suicide. It finally revealed that it was unable to bring Evelyn back to life, and told the Crew how to reach the nearest shadow-crossing. The Awful Crew, voiced by their Waffle Crew counterparts, are the evil clones of Strix, Diath and Paultin created by the Sewn Sisters. They are supervised by the hags' imp familiar Umpox, voiced by Chris Perkins. They are later joined by Evilyn, an evil paladin construct who serves Shar. All but evil Paultin are killed, and his whereabouts are currently unknown. Ominifis "Omin" Hereward Dran, played by Jerry Holkins, is a half-elf cleric (war domain) in Penny Arcade's Acquisitions Incorporated series. He is the CEO of Acq Inc, a mercenary company that Diath has a very negative opinion of. As Omin felt he owed Strix a favor for her help in previous crossover episodes, he teleported to Chult at her request to resurrect Evelyn and Simon. However, the ritual was delayed by the appearance of the Awful Crew, who ultimately met their demise at the hands of the originals. Omin then convinced the local guard to let them stay at a well-furnished house for honored visitors, where he finally got to cast the spell and reunite the Crew. He warned Strix that he would be sending her another letter, but that "this one will be a choice." Evelyn considered Omin a pen pal and began sending him letters, including one asking him to help Port Nyanzaru after the Crew almost destroyed it, and Omin said he would send Team Naiad to the rescue. The tone of his letter,28 and Jerry himself,29-31 implied that Omin was developing feelings for Evelyn. Waterdeep NPCs Captain Ortimay Swift and Dark is the fast-talking gnome bandit captain of "The Brazen Pegasus", the ship that Lerek arranges for the Crew to take passage on to Waterdeep. Per the ToA module, although the ship's primary business is smuggling (it's also fast enough to outrun most pirate ships), they don't mind taking adventurers where they need to go. Chris described her crew as working like a well-oiled machine, in contrast to the chaotic indecisiveness of the Waffle Crew. Despite tying herself to the wheel of the ship, Captain Ortimay was swept overboard by powerful waves during a storm. Diath had to take over captaining the ship after the first mate, Grig Ruddell, became incapacitated by over-drinking due to anxiety over what to tell Ortimay's patron. Paultin shared in and encouraged this bad habit instead of talking Ruddell out of it. Aliam Jeraskar, a senior member of the crew, tells Diath that the patron is Lady Ezvelay Rosznar, an intimidating noble who lives in Waterdeep and actually owns the ship and was a close friend of Ortimay's. Diath agrees to speak to her on Ruddell's behalf. Commodore Warrington Mundt is a Giff, a race of hippopotamus-headed space-faring mercenaries, voiced by Chris in a stuffy British accent. He wears a military uniform with multiple medals, and tells the Crew he was on patrol with his fleet around the Tears of Selune, on watch for "an invasion of sorts" from the Far Realms, when his ship was struck and they crashed onto Toril. As the sole survivor, he managed to escape in a boat and was rescued by the Crew (there are also crates and barrels of ammunition and supplies floating around him as flotsam). Due to being partially deaf and misplacing his ear-horn, he has the amusing habit of mishearing names, calling Paultin 'Pippin' and Diath 'Dingdong'. He hopes to acquire a new blunderbuss rifle in Waterdeep and a way to contact his fleet. Wandala is Xandala's twin sister, also voiced by Dani Hartel. She works for the Zhentarim, and was charged by them to make a deal with the Xanathar. Negotiations went badly, and the Xanathar's gang attacked Wandala while she was interrogating the Crew, who she had also been tasked to investigate. After the assailants are dealt with, Wandala introduces the Crew to other agents of the Zhentarim, who they greet very reluctantly. As an apology for involving the Crew in her business, Wandala leaves them with a potion of greater healing and her gloves of thievery. She notices that the flying snake worn by Tashlyn, the Zhentarim captain of the Sea Serpent, hisses at her, which seems odd, but she thinks it mistook her for Xandala. The Crew reveal that Xandala is dead, but Wandala doesn't mind, saying "my sister was a bitch". Xanathar is the name of the beholder crime lord who runs a thieves guild within the Undermountain, a warren of underground lairs and tunnels just outside Waterdeep. Its agents also hide within the sewers of the city. Multiple beholders may have taken the name and position of 'the Xanathar',32 with the current incarnation having an interesting attachment to Silgar the goldfish33 that demonstrates its growing insanity. The Zhentarim were hoping to ally with its forces to help find a mysterious stone, but Wandala's negotiations failed, and the Xanathar sent its agents against her, assuming the Crew were now also its enemy by association. Manshoon is a paranoid archmage who cast multiple clone spells on himself. As all clones cast by this spell are naturally drawn to want to kill one another, it is actually believed that the original Manshoon perished.34 Near the end of their battle with Xanathar's forces, a copy of Manshoon appears, seeming harmless and apologizing for showing up late, but showing little enthusiasm for attacking the Crew when it's clear his side is losing. Evelyn convinces him to defect to their side, and her friendliness leads him to ask her if she's seeing anyone. Paultin becomes annoyed and actually calls the city guards on him, who take him away. References 1 Madam Eva. Mistipedia. 2 DCA Episode 24. 3 Dr. Rudolph van Richten. Mistipedia. 4 DCA Episode 54 and 55. 5 Holly Conrad on Dice, Camera, Action. Don't Split The Podcast Network. 6 Favored Soul Discussion. DCA Reddit. 7 Izek Strazni. Mistipedia. 8 DCA Episode 7. 9 Rahadin. Mistipedia. 10 https://twitter.com/chrisperkinsdnd/status/895060464362704896 11 Amber Temple. Ravenloft Wiki. 12 Mordenkainen. Mistipedia. 13 Sir Godfrey Gwilym. Mistpedia. 14 Chris Perkins AMA. Reddit. 15 "What's the deal with Harshnag?" RPGGeek.com forums. 16 https://twitter.com/ChrisPerkinsDnD/status/844362670425882625 17 Dragon Talk: LYSK Shemeshka the Marauder, Evil Wyrms of the North, 11/13/17. 18 DCA Episode 76. 19 Saurial. Forgotten Realms Wiki. 20 https://twitter.com/ChrisPerkinsDnD/status/992549033393586176 21 Kerrek. Critical Role Wikia. 22 Chwinga. Forgotten Realms Wiki. 23 PAX South 2018 Acquisitions Incorporated episode. 24 https://twitter.com/sunnyseeley/status/965700414380294144 25 Waffle Talk: Special Guest Rachel Seeley! 26 PAX West 2017 Acquisitions Incorporated episode. 27 PAX Unplugged 2017 Acquisitions Incorporated episode. Penny Arcade. 28 https://twitter.com/TychoBrahe/status/997978648303910912 29 Promise, Part 5 - S2 E16 - Acquisitions Inc: The "C" Team. YouTube. 30 Table Talk, Promise, Part 5 - S2 E16 - Acquisitions Inc: The "C" Team. YouTube. 31 Summer Gold & Grudge Batch - Acquisitions Intoxicated - Ep 34. YouTube. (37:53, 1:31:27) 32 Xanathar. Forgotten Realms Wiki. 33 Xanathar: D&D Beyond. 34 Manshoon in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. D&D Beyond.